Divided Congress takes up an Ivanka Trump signature issue: paid family leave. Can they strike a deal?

WASHINGTON – Democrats, Republicans and the White House agree that workers should be able to take paid time off to care for a new baby or sick family member. They differ, though, on what a federal policy should look like and who should pay for it.

The issue of family and medical leave got its first hearing in the Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday morning. Lawmakers from both parties expressed enthusiasm for acting.

"It’s critical that we find a way to do this and do it together," said Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla.

It was also clear that Democrats and Republicans remained far apart on a solution, in a Congress deeply polarized on a wide range of other topics.

Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the committee, said there are "real concerns" about a plan supported by the majority of Democratic lawmakers. Brady said there was worry such a proposal – which he described as "one size fits all" – would raise taxes, hurt flexibility and cost too much. He said a better route would be to give businesses flexibility to tailor leave plans for individual workers.

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Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, said Americans need a “bold, national paid leave policy" which in his view was the FAMILY Act, the bill being pushed by Democrats. Doggett said the Republican proposals he had seen so far that would allow new parents to take time off now at a cost of postponing Social Security later, would "undermine retirement security. Doggett called those plans "a real step backward.”

Paid family leave has long been a priority for Democrats who took control of the House in January. Ivanka Trump, President Donald Trump's daughter and a senior White House adviser, has made it a signature issue. Several Republicans, including Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, are pushing family leave proposals.

Optimism remains

Despite a divide on how to move forward, members of the committee and activists remained hopeful.

“I think it's a remarkable sign of progress that attendance here on both sides was so strong. In 2014, I testified at the very first hearing solely on paid leave in a Senate (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) subcommittee and only Democrats showed up,” said Vicki Shabo, an expert on paid leave at the New America think tank, who was in the audience during the hearing.

"The question isn’t whether to expand paid family leave, but how best to achieve it,” Brady said Wednesday.

Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, said Tuesday she's "always optimistic" about the chances of finding common ground.

"If it is true, if (Republicans) are genuine about their desire to support families then we should be able to find some middle ground on policy to help address this issue and move this country forward," Murphy said.

Rep. Jackie Walorski of Indiana, one of Murphy's Republican colleagues on Ways and Means, said Tuesday she was "very optimistic" about Wednesday's hearing, even though she acknowledged that the two sides favor different types of solutions.

"I think this is good movement. I think this dialogue is what Americans want to hear is that our two parties are going to come together and we’re going to figure out a way to make this work," she said.

Ivanka Trump's push

Ivanka Trump has met with more than 60 lawmakers on both sides of the aisle about family leave, according to a White House official. Walorski met with her last week.

On Tuesday, she shared a Time Magazine article about it on Twitter that included side-by-side images of her, Rubio and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, 2020 presidential candidate and vocal supporter of family leave.

"We’re not looking for a messaging bill, but working in earnest to develop bipartisan #PaidFamilyLeave policy that can garner the votes to be passed into law...and we’re making real progress towards that goal!" Ivanka Trump tweeted.

Donald Trump's last three budget proposals have called for six weeks of leave for mothers, fathers and adoptive parents as part of the unemployment insurance program. But presidential budgets are largely symbolic since Congress controls the purse strings.

Democrats want a broad package

More than three-quarters of the House Democratic Caucus supports The FAMILY Act, which would provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave for new parents and people with personal or family health issues, a larger group than Republicans are discussing. It would be funded by a shared pool built by payroll contributions made by employers and employees.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., has put forth the bill four times, but Tuesday she said there finally could be movement: “After many years on the margins, the issue of paid family and medical leave is finally at the center of the public discourse," she said.

DeLauro said she's open to working across the aisle, but what Republicans have proposed so far won't get Democratic support.

Mariel Saez, a spokesman for Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, said the Maryland Democrat "strongly supports paid family leave" and once the Ways and Means Committee is able to vote a bill out of committee, Hoyer's office will look at scheduling it for a full vote in the House. Any legislation would also need to pass the Senate.

Republicans offer alternatives

Republicans say the Democratic bill would amount to a tax increase, a nonstarter.

There are multiple pieces of GOP-sponsored legislation that would allow new parents to take time off when they have or adopt a new baby. They would then delay their Social Security benefits when they eventually retire.

While Ivanka Trump hasn't endorsed any piece of legislation she has spoken positively about the GOP efforts to address the issue. She also praised Sens. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, and Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat, for their work to find a compromise.

Ways and Means Committee is busy

Despite optimism that the panel could come together on paid family leave, GOP Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri reminded the room that the committee was grappling with tensions on other topics – namely a fight over Trump's tax returns.

"This is an issue that we should clearly be able to work together," Smith said. "But unfortunately this Congress, and my friends on the other side, appears to be more focused on not this policy, but instead ... on a policy that goes after President Trump's tax returns."

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal is in a tug of war with the Treasury Department in an attempt to obtain six years of the president's tax returns. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said that the department will not turn over the returns. It is likely the battle will end up in courts.

Contributing: Christal Hayes

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Divided Congress takes up an Ivanka Trump signature issue: paid family leave. Can they strike a deal?